Relieved, his face
brightens up again and he jumps back into action. Today, there are no other clowns
around, so he goes about doing his own thing not needing to be on guard against the
practical jokes of the others.

This is when he
connects best with the children. Using his plastic ice-cream, his magic tricks and
his ability to twist balloons, he charms and wins over his two-children and three-adult
audience. One of the two children is two-year old Andrea. She doesn't really like
clowns. She's apprehensive and nervous at the beginning, staying a distance away
from Spotty.

But Spotty works
smoothly, taking time to win her trust. Soon she's clapping and laughing along, and
in true Spotty character, he humbly offers her a balloon twisted into the shape of
a poodle. A meek smile appears, and a brief bonding takes place before Spotty retreats
with a satisfied smile.

Friendship formed,
he goes back to his antics.

Then he tries to
strike up another conversation, this time with 4-year-old Angie. "Wah, you so
old one-ah. I only two years old," Spotty says, in a slightly nasal voice.

Angie bursts into
laughter. Spotty capitalises on Angie's receptiveness and entertains her with a few
magic tricks. That's what Spotty does best---make friends, show off a little when
he can, and entertain the guests especially the younger ones.

Later, after cleaning
off his make-up, Ravi talks about some of the challenges of being a clown.

"I love working
with children, but sometimes, when you have a very "notorious" child on
your hands, hmmm, that becomes quite difficult," he says.

But at the end of
the day, he enjoys every moment of being Spotty. "Time passes by so quickly.
An hour or two goes by just like that."

In the mean time,
while he looks for an opportunity to get into the human resource training industry,
he plans to continue rekindle the child in himself , and just be Spotty. The earnings
are decent, and Ravi says that if he chose to go full-time, he would probably be
able to earn a fairly reasonable income.

The charges are
anywhere between RM350 and RM700, depending on the duration and the complexity of
the performance.

Spotty has been
mostly well-received. Veronica, Spotty's manager and a clown herself, compliments
him. "He is talented, and his character has developed into a very interesting
and funny one," she says.

He admits, however,
to having one weakness. In Veronica's words: "He is great with kids, but sometimes,
he still struggles with adults."

"They don't
always react positively," Ravi says, in reference to adult audiences. For a
Spotty who enjoys children's company so much, trying to perform for more self-conscious
and so-called mature adults can sometimes be a drag.

"But he's learning,"
Veronica says.

Ravi gives a Spotty
smile. His clowning around will surely continue to improve. After all he has only
been doing this for about six months.